The City
by Sakuya1989
Summary: Duo getting over break up with Heero. I have stopped writing this but may start in the near future after revising this chapter. It is messy and poorly written


A light breeze flooded the dark room with the smell of the first snow of the year. The smell drifted in over the mahogany desk buried in black clothes and discarded unsent break-up letters, past the black light lamps of various shapes and sizes. The breeze became stronger as time dove into the depths of the long night. The gentle wisps of air had transformed into a bone chilling wind that soon found its way to the nose of a certain cobalt blue eyed god of death who was pretending to be asleep and had been ignoring the open window and his frozen runny nose for some time now.

Although the wind was cold and only getting colder the prerogative of our young protagonist was still unchanging and unwilling to lock the cold away. So in a mix of stubbornness and procrastination he pulled is black flannel sheets over his head and muttered murderous mumbles at the cold for not simply being warm.

Why don't you just close the damn thing?

Besides the fact that Duo had a very high immune system and impeccable physical endurance for someone so average looking he decided that having hair longer than most girls to wrap around his body all the way down to his bottom was just one more reason he could feed himself to justify his silly lack of action against the dreaded winter cold. But alas, the flannel blankets combined with peak physical shape weren't even a match for this matter of cold.

Try as he might to hide from the truth behind this dilemma hiding from truths was something that the god of death would never do unless life itself was involved in the equation. But the truth was that Duo knew if he made even the slightest of movements on his wooden floor no amount of stealth or poise could stop her from hearing it and bolting to his bedside to bombard him with vulturous questions about his whereabouts earlier that evening when he should have been taking her on a dinner date.

There's nothing you can do cowboy, you'll have to face the music some time...

Although he was sure that any efforts to conceal his presence would be hopelessly ineffective it was not in his nature to willingly walk into the endless abyss of any womans wrath. No, he was not so quick to give up without a fight.

Duo, clad in silk boxer shorts and an elastic band around his wrist lightly lifted his flannel sheets softly placing them to his right. One by one he slid his legs out from underneath the final layer of linen. He slowly and stiffly positioned himself for the first step off the bed, which he had only then realized, was higher up than the length of his legs. Duo became slightly irritated by this.

At such ungodly early hours of the morning it was quite possible that he would have to give his bed the evil eye for mocking his height. Duo shook his head in an effort to boost his alertness and in the process lost his train of thought. He stood swiftly and loudly -accidentally- as he had forgotten his stealthy plan.

Fuck.

It was not five seconds later that the gust of wind entering through his window was a mere puff in comparison with the gust of wind coming from the abrupt slamming open of his bedroom door.

"Duo Maxwell! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" Standing with arms crossed and legs planted deeper than tree trunks was Hilde. And Hilde was pissed off.

Duo moved into a defencive position with his legs spread apart and hands in front of him. He smiled wide and terrified and prepared his explanation as articulately as he could, given the hour. "Now before you get all ready to kill me would you just give me a chance to explain myself?"

"pfft! I know just what you'll say!" she was bubbling like a volcano ready to erupt. "First you're going to tell me how sorry you are, and that it wont happen again, and then you're going to give me some loooooooong depressing story about some letter you forgot about or some picture you found! Then I'll end up feeling sorry for you and you'll get off the hook with no consequences or sense of regret! NOT TODAY DUO!"

She had erupted.

"NO SIR! TODAY YOU ARE GOING TO TAKE ME TO A VERY VERY LATE DINNER TO MAKE UP FOR IT!"

"Uhm...Hilde?" Squeaked Duo.

"What?!"

"Every where's closed..."

"Hmpf!" Hilde closed her eyes and stuck up her nose. Slyly, she peaked through one eye at Duo. "I can think of one place that isn't."

Duo knew that there was no fighting it once Hilde had made up her mind about something. He would rather stampede in the opposite direction of one hundred bulls wearing nothing but a red pair of panties than argue this matter further.

"I'll get my coat..."

The air was crisp and the conversation was thin as Duo and Hilde walked toward the most horrifyingly unhealthy of food establishments. Yes, 711 was a force that neither of them would normally dare reckon with. To Hilde this was not about food. This was about her unwavering commitment to keep Duo from moping.

But mope he did...

"Hey Duo when are you gonna get over that jerk anyway?!" Hilde Blurted.

Although Duo knew that Hilde's intentions were only to help him and never to harm him a cringe of sharp pain sliced through his stomach and supplied the feeling that he just might be ripping in half. He instinctively held his stomach. This was not an uncommon occurrence. It had been One month, three days and seventeen hours since his heart was stolen and replaced with a black void that each day stole a little bit more of his will to live. Although he would never admit it to himself. "You don't need to call him a jerk Hilde..."

Hilde's small nostrils flared and her short black hair stood up as if it had a will of it's own. "Humf! Anyone who thinks they can leave MY BEST FRIEND with nothing but a letter and a lack of an excuse is MORE than a JERK!" At this point she was noticeably stomping. But Duo didn't dare inform her.

Duo sighed and lowered his eyes to the pavement which was sparkling with small flakes of ice. He let his eyes blur. "It's hopeless...Dammit! It doesn't matter what I do Hilde. None of it works anyway, He still creeps his way into my mind every half second." He swung his arms behind his neck and tilted his head back. "I'm gonna end up in a loony bin aren't I."

As the pair of night walkers approached the bright lights of the convenient store another sigh slipped past Duo's lips and into the finally felt gust of cold air. Hilde held the door open for Duo with her left index finger and followed after his entrance.

As they browsed through the bulk of carb and MSG filled food products Hilde thought silently to herself while Duo busied himself making a slushie with a little of every flavour. It was in this moment that Hilde had an epiphany. It struck her like a ton of bricks falling from a 100 story building and slamming onto hard pavement. It was all so simple. Too simple. But would she be able to bring herself to voice this idea? Knowing that it could tear her away from the only man she had ever cared for?

Although the answer stung her heart she knew the answer. She cared for Duo far too much to allow his suffering to go on when she knew their was a chance (Even if it was small) that she could help him move on with his life.

In the end as they placed their selections on the plastic counter covering lottery tickets Hilde Mustered all her will power into one solid statement. "Duo, I think you need a change of pace."

Duo could hear her voice crumble as the words she spoke ate away at her. He was scared.

"You need to get out of here Duo! You need to get away!"

Our cobalt blue eyed boy's mind raced behind a blank expression. Was She trying to get rid of him? Had his moping finally pushed her over the edge of tolerance and acceptance? Did she mean he needed a vacation? Or did she mean to imply something more... permanent?

"I don't get it." He finally said in a small and careful voice.

Hilde looked down and met Duo's eyes with a head of spiky black hair. she pulled her wallet from her jacket pocket and paid the cashier (Who was completely enthralled by their dilemma) for the two hot dogs and slushies they had absentmindedly decided on.

"I mean, don't you think it might be better for you to get away from all those bad memories? Don't you think it might help to...get a fresh start?" Her heavy words slurred together and melted through to her deep blue eyes.

Hilde kept her face down as she thanked the entirely too interested cashier and grabbed her change. This time it was Duo who held the door open. The brisk air swept across their faces and was enough to freeze Hilde's pending tears into place for now.

Duo followed slightly behind Hilde as they walked through the parking lot.

"You really think I should leave?" Said Duo as he choked back his intuition. But of course Hilde could see right through him. His lies were like glass exposing the scenery of his emotions as vastly and beautifully as they came into his life. But she would never tell him that.

The truth behind his lies washed over Hilde and she knew he had misunderstood completely her intentions. It was enough to flush a few of those stubborn tears past her reluctant eyelids. She stopped in the snowy parking lot and inhaled deeply the smell and feel of icy air. "Duo...I just want you to be happy again...Whatever it takes! Even if it means I can only just hear your voice or read your letters. It's worth it if you can find happiness!" She placed her food on the ground beside her and swiftly strapped her arms tightly around Duo's waist. She buried her face in his shoulder and paced her breathing to his. Duo, hands full wrapped his arms around her and smiled into her hair.

"Geez Hilde, you don't need to get so dramatic..."

They stood there together for a long moment. Finally Hilde released Duo's midriff from her kung-fu grip and exhaled deeply. A large puff of white air floated in front of her and she watched as it rose up past their sight and into the darkness of the starless night. She lowered her eyes to meet his and together they smiled. "Just think about it, okay?"

Duo nodded and widened his smile to the contours of his trademark crooked grin. "I will."

Apon arriving to thier third story two bedroom apartment Hilde, exausted, simply plopped on the couch and quickly drifted into unconsiousness. Of course, forgetting to even eat the hotdog she had been so insistant on purchasing.

Duo on the other hand was completely consumed by the many things on his never- resting mind. Where would he go? Did he even want to go? What was he doing right now... At this very moment... Duo decided that there was only one place that would give hm clarity at a time like this. A time where his life had no direction. A time where the road to the end was lost in the darkness of his indecision. He knew at this point he would either have to create his own light and persue it...or drown in the darkness and be consumed by it.

Quietly, he stole Hilde's hotdog and tucked her slurpee safely in the freezer. He knew if he refridgerated her hotdog it would just go bad anyway. So as carefully as he could in his attempt to let his over-stressed room-mate sleep he climbed out the window and up the fire escape until he reached the roof of the four story apartment building.

The snow was getting thicker with fat round snowflakes but Duo had a very long trench coat to shield himself from the winter cold.

He sat at the edge of the roof letting his boot-covered feet hang off. In the distance he could see his entire life. every place he'd been and every place he would be going every day unless something changed. But did he want change?

Duo placed his hotdogs and slushie beside him and layed back against the roof top. He looked up and watched as the snowflakes fell from the pitch black sky. He held his hand out to catch them. He watched as the beautiful fragile flakes that had traveled from the heavens in one piece touched his white skin and melted to drops of water that escaped through the cracks between his fingers. Would he be like a snowflake and simply melt away at the next dillema that crossed his life? Or would he take on the form of water and find a new path to persue?

Swiftly Duo sat up. A smile stretched across his face and all at once the answer came to him. He knew where he was. And he knew where he wanted to be. In the distance he eyed the bus station that was blurred and buried in the street lights and snow.

Alright, it's now or never and you'll never look back!

Duo climed down the fire escape, forgetting his food and dove in through his window. He looked up at the red couch in his dark living room and was surprised to see that the thud he had made had not woken Hilde. In that moment he decided that maybe it was supposed to be this way. That maybe saying goodbye would only make him want to stay. He decided to leave her a letter and a promise that he would see her again soon.

One letter later, he grabbed his duffle bag and stuffed it with anything he thought he might need. He grabbed the money he had been stuffing in his sock drawer for 4 years, some clothes, his mp3 player, a big ball of elastic bands and his two big bottles of shampoo and conditioner, along with his toothbrush. He was set.

He was gone.

Apon arriving at the bus stop another dillema caught his attention. Where was he going? He looked up at the board that listed boaring times and destinations and in the abyss of endless small towns was the one place he knew he wouldn't know a soul. And in his mind he screamed his choice at the top of his lungs.

NEW YORK HERE I COME!

End of chapter one.

Please R&R and tell me what you think. I haven't written anything like this before. The plot is already worked out...it's just a matter of writing it. and support will help me to complete it!

p.s.

before I continue this story I'm going to share the past and what exactly happened to put Duo in this situation. ...No flaming please...;;


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